Method and system for payment of business reply mail

ABSTRACT

A business reply mail payment system and method is provided. A business reply mail payment system establishes a master account with the postal system for the payment of business reply mail. A plurality of mailers each establish a separate account with the payment system and transfer control of payment for business reply mail accepted under their respective permit imprints to the payment system. When the mailer will be receiving business reply mail, a request for payment of postage is made to the payment system, which processes the information related to the business reply mail. The post office acceptance site communicates with the payment system as the business reply mail is received and compares the received business reply mail with the information processed by the payment system to determine if it should be accepted or rejected. If the business reply mail is accepted, the master account is debited for payment.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The invention disclosed herein relates generally to the field of mailpayment systems, and more particularly to a system and method forpayment of business reply mail.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Many companies and private concerns use business reply mail (BRM) tosolicit information and responses from their customers or potentialcustomers. As such, business reply mail has a wide variety of uses andis often customized depending upon the needs of the sender. A fewexamples of the uses for business reply mail are subscriptionsolicitations, information request responses, proxy statement responses,remittance documents (invoices for payment due) and the like.Oftentimes, the business reply mail is provided to customers orpotential customers as part of a direct mail campaign, an invoice or asa detachable insert in a periodical magazine or newsletter.

Business reply mail requires the sender, e.g., company, private concern,or the like, to pay for the postage of the BRM. As such, BRM is requiredto include an endorsement that states “No Postage Necessary If Mailed InThe United States” in the upper right hand corner, along with a businessreply legend, a permit number and a postage payment endorsement thatstates “Postage Will Be Paid by Addressee.” The delivery address printedon the BRM includes the name of the BRM permit holder. Thus, based onthe permit number and name of the permit holder, the post office candetermine the entity that is responsible for paying for the postage ofthe BRM. With BRM, however, the sender only has to pay for postage onthe mail pieces that are actually returned by its customers. The sendercan receive the returned BRM in one of two ways. The carrier couldcollect all of the returned BRM for a certain period of time and thendeliver the returned BRM to the sender. Alternatively, the carrier couldsimply hold all of the returned BRM and the sender could retrieve itfrom the local post office as desired. Either way, the sender must payfor each of the BRM mail pieces that are returned.

There are currently several methods for the sender, also referred to asmailer, to pay the postal service for business reply mail. Such paymentcan be, for example, in the form of a check, cash, uncancelled stamps,or debit from a local non-interest bearing trust account into whichmoney must be deposited. The United States Postal Service (USPS) alsoprovides certain mailers with a postage payment system referred to asthe Centralized Account Processing System (CAPS), which provideselectronic options to presenting checks or cash in person. CAPS utilizeseither a centralized non-interest bearing trust account, in which fundsare deposited electronically, via standard Automated Clearing House(ACH) banking mechanisms, or a centralized debit account, in which thesender's designated bank account will be debited, via standard ACHbanking mechanisms.

There are problems, however, with the conventional systems for payingfor business reply mail. For example, if the mailer is paying by cash,check, or uncancelled stamps, payment must be presented at the time theBRM is delivered by the carrier or picked up from the local post office.Accordingly, the mailer must have either the correct amount of cash oruncancelled stamps, or be able to quickly draft a check for the correctamount. There is also an issue with the security of the cash,uncancelled stamps, or check if the party picking up the BRM at the USPScannot be completely trusted (perhaps because the party picking up thereturned BRM and delivering it to the sender is simply a third partycourier).

In addition to the above problems, payment in the form of cash or acheck adds processing costs for the postal authority. For example, ittakes additional time and expenses to record and account for paymentsmade in this manner. Since funds are collected in a distributed fashion,it is possible for funds to get misplaced and/or checks to get lost.

To overcome the above problems, the USPS utilizes CAPS as previouslydescribed. While CAPS may have alleviated some of the problems, severalstill remain. For example, there are several thresholds that a mailermust meet to qualify for CAPS, such as, for example, a minimum amount ofpostage each year. For example, to qualify for CAPS, a mailer currentlymust have a permit account with a minimum of $500,000 of postage eachyear. Alternatively, a mailer can have three permits in two or morepostal locations with a minimum of $10,000 of postage per year, or threeor more permits at one post office with a minimum of $50,000 postage peryear. Many businesses currently do not meet any of these requirements,and therefore do not qualify for CAPS. Even if the thresholds wereremoved so all mailers would qualify for CAPS, several problems wouldstill remain. For example, if large numbers of mailers utilized CAPS,there would be additional expenses for the postal authority to maintainand service the large number of CAPS accounts.

Additionally, from the mailer's perspective, CAPS also has limitations.For example, with the centralized trust account, the funds for paymentof the postage must be deposited prior to receiving the returned BRM,thereby tying up funds in a non-interest bearing account. With thecentralized debit account, some mailers are reluctant to provide theirbanking information to the USPS and other suppliers. With the use ofeither the centralized trust account or the centralized debit account,additional record keeping is necessary to reconcile the amount debitedor charged by the postal authority. Furthermore, the USPS is notpermitted to grant credit to a mailer or pay interest on deposits,thereby making it necessary for the mailer to ensure that correctamounts are available in their account or risk delays in receiving theirreturned BRM. Such delays could cost the mailer significant amounts inboth money and customers.

Thus, there exists a need for a trusted system and method that allowsmailers of all sizes to pay for business reply mail without presentingcash, uncancelled stamps, or a check at the time of receiving thereturned BRM. Additionally, there is a need for a system and method thatprovides mailers with payment options, such as, for example, a creditline or an interest bearing account, to pay for business reply mail,reduces the amount of record keeping for both mailers and the postalauthority, and provides mailers with additional resources to managetheir funds more effectively.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention alleviates the problems associated with the priorart and provides a trusted system and method that allows mailers of allsizes to pay for business reply mail, reduces the amount of recordkeeping for both mailers and the postal authority, provides mailers withadditional resources to manage their funds more effectively, and reducesUSPS operating costs, including, for example, check processing costs.

In accordance with the present invention, a BRM payment systemestablishes a payment account with the postal system for payment forBRM. The account may be, for example, a CAPS account in the U.S., orsimply a standard type of payment account. A plurality of mailers eachestablish a separate account with the BRM payment system and transfercontrol of payment for returned BRM under their respective permitimprints to the BRM payment system. The account could be set up, forexample, as an interest bearing or non-interest bearing deposit accountfor each mailer from which funds may be used to pay the postage for theBRM returned to each mailer. Additionally, the BRM payment system couldestablish a credit line for each mailer.

When a mailer decides to send a mailing that includes BRM for return tothe mailer, the mailer notifies the BRM payment system and authorizesthe BRM payment system to provide payment to the post office, from theBRM payment service's payment account, for the returned BRM. Preferably,the mailer provides information related to the BRM. Such informationcould include, for example, the permit imprint number for the BRM, thezip code number associated with the permit number, i.e., the zip code ofthe addressee to which the BRM will be returned, the return address thatshould appear on every piece of BRM (including the permit holder'sname), a maximum number of pieces expected under the currentauthorization (which when exceeded causes the current authorization toautomatically expire), a maximum postage amount under the currentauthorization (which when exceed causes the current authorization toautomatically expire), a daily limit amount for the number of pieces orpostage amount, threshold amounts for either the number pieces receivedor amount of postage paid upon which the mailer will be notified, and afixed date upon which the current authorization should automaticallyexpire. The BRM payment system processes the information related to theBRM and, provided funds are available within the mailer's account or theexpected amount is within the mailer's credit limit, agrees to makepayments to the postal service for the returned BRM. Preferably, the BRMpayment service issues a payment authorization number (PAN) to themailer for each authorization, thereby allowing the mailer to trackdifferent authorizations separately.

As the postal facility receives the returned BRM, an amount of postagedue for the BRM is calculated, such as, for example, by completing USPSForm 3582-C Postage Due Invoice. The postal facility then communicateswith the BRM payment system to confirm that payment is authorized forthe returned BRM, i.e., that an active PAN exists for the returned BRM,based, for example, on the permit number and permit holder's name (whichmust appear on the BRM). The BRM payment system will preferably againdetermine that sufficient funds are available within the mailer'saccount or within the mailer's credit limit to pay the postage due forthe returned BRM as calculated by the postal facility. If insufficientfunds or credit are available, the BRM payment system will indicate tothe postal facility that the returned BRM should be rejected, i.e., notreturned to the mailer, as payment will not be made. If sufficient fundsor credit are available within the mailer's account, the BRM paymentsystem will acknowledge that an authorization exists and provide theconditions for acceptance of the returned BRM, based on the informationassociated with the BRM previously provided by the mailer, to the postalfacility.

The postal facility then determines if the conditions for acceptance aresatisfied, including, for example, if the maximum total number of piecesor maximum daily number of pieces have been exceeded, and if the maximumtotal postage amount or maximum daily postage amount have been exceeded.If the conditions for acceptance of the returned BRM have beensatisfied, the postal facility will indicate such to the BRM paymentsystem and accept the returned BRM for delivery back to the mailer. Uponreceiving notification of acceptance of the returned BRM, the BRMpayment system will charge the mailer's account and perform accountingprocedures to update the information associated with BRM, such as, forexample, incrementing the total number of pieces returned and amount ofpostage paid to reflect the returned BRM just accepted. Preferably, theBRM payment system provides notification to the mailer that th returnedBRM has been accepted, and can include the details from the 3582-CPostage Due Invoice form. The notification can also provide the mailerwith the current status of the PAN, thereby allowing the mailer todetermine if the PAN should be renewed based on threshold information orthe date of expiration. If the returned BRM was rejected, the BRMpayment system can also provide a notification to the mailer of therejection and the reason for the rejection.

The BRM payment system provides payment to the postal service for thereturned BRM that has been accepted for return to the mailer. This canbe performed, for example, on a daily basis by totaling the funds duethe postal service from all of the 3582-C Postage Due Invoice formssubmitted to the system that day. Thus, the BRM payment system canaggregate the amount due for a number of different mailers and provide asingle payment to the postal service.

The BRM payment system also settles all transactions with the mailers.The particular type of settlement depends upon the type of account themailer has with the BRM payment system. For example, the BRM paymentsystem could invoice the mailer for all returned BRM accepted within agiven time period, such as, for example one or two weeks. If the mailerhas funds on account with the BRM payment system, the BRM payment systemcould deduct the funds from the mailer's account on a predeterminedregular basis, such as, for example, daily, weekly, etc. Alternatively,the funds could be deducted as soon as each transaction is completed.The present invention provides mailers with multiple payment options forbusiness reply mail including “Just-In-Time” payments, “Pay In Advance”payments, and/or “Pay In Arrears” payments. The “Just-In-Time” paymentoption allows the mailer to pay the BRM payment system when the returnedBRM is accepted by the post office. The “Pay In Arrears” payment optionprovides the mailer with a credit line to pay for BRM. The “Pay InAdvance” payment option may provide mailers with interest on pre-paidBRM.

All of the payment solutions of the present invention allow the mailerto view all of their account detail on-line, including historicalpayment information by permit number, initiate on-line payments, andinitiate and approve on-line authorizations. Customers can make paymentsto the BRM payment aggregator in a number of ways, including, forexample, via check, ACH credit or debit or wire.

Therefore, it should now be apparent that the invention substantiallyachieves all the above aspects and advantages. Additional aspects andadvantages of the invention will be set forth in the description thatfollows, and in part will be obvious from the description, or may belearned by practice of the invention. Moreover, the aspects andadvantages of the invention may be realized and obtained by means of theinstrumentalities and combinations particularly pointed out in theappended claims.

DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The accompanying drawings illustrate a presently preferred embodiment ofthe invention, and together with the general description given above andthe detailed description given below, serve to explain the principles ofthe invention. As shown throughout the drawings, like reference numeralsdesignate like or corresponding parts.

FIG. 1 illustrates in block diagram form a system for payment ofbusiness reply mail according to the present invention;

FIG. 2 illustrates in flow diagram form a process for payment ofbusiness reply mail according to the present invention;

FIGS. 3A and 3B illustrate in flow diagram form further processing forthe payment of business reply mail according to the present invention;and

FIG. 4 illustrates in block diagram form an exemplary account forpayment of business reply mail according to the present invention.

DETAILD DESCRIPTION OF THE PRESENT INVENTION

In describing the present invention, reference is made to the drawings,wherein there is seen in FIG. 1 a system for payment of business replymail according to the present invention. A BRM payment system 12maintains a payment account, such as CAPS, with the post office 14. BRMpayment system 12 is authorized by the mailer 16 to provide payment tothe post office 14 for returned BRM originally sent by the mailer 16.The BRM payment system 12 provides the mailer 16 with multiple paymentoptions not currently available to pay for business reply mail. Forexample, the BRM payment system 12 can enable mailer 16 to participatein programs such as CAPS, regardless of whether mailer 16 meets thethreshold criteria for CAPS by aggregating a plurality of mailers undera master account held by BRM payment system 12.

The operation of BRM payment system 12 will be described with respect tothe process flow diagrams illustrated in FIGS. 2, 3A and 3B. Referringnow to FIG. 2, in step 100 the BRM payment system 12 establishes apayment account with the post office 14 to provide payment for BRM. Thepayment account could be, for example, a master CAPS account. It shouldbe noted that while BRM payment system 12 may not actually be registeredfor any BRM permit imprints, BRM payment system 12 can qualify for aCAPS account based on an aggregation of BRM permit imprints for mailers,such as mailer 16, that will utilize the system 12.

In step 102, a mailer 16 establishes an account with the BRM paymentsystem 12 to provide services related to payment for returned BRM. Thisaccount for mailer 16 can be established in a number of different waysas illustrated in FIG. 4. BRM payment system 12 can establish aninterest bearing deposit account 30 and/or a non-interest bearingdeposit account 40 for mailer 16 from which funds may be used to pay thepostage for BRM returned to mailer 16. Interest bearing deposit account30 allows the mailer 16 to accumulate interest on any funds deposited ininterest bearing deposit account 30. Funds for the interest bearingdeposit account 30 or non-interest bearing deposit account 40 for mailer16 can be provided by transferring funds, in any convenient manner, suchas, for example, by wire transfer, check, ACH credit, etc., from themailer's bank account 38 to a bank account 34 of BRM payment system 12.These funds are then transferred to the interest bearing deposit account30 or non-interest bearing deposit account 40. Alternatively to, or inaddition to, interest bearing deposit account 30 and/or non-interestbearing deposit account 40, BRM payment system 12 could also establish acredit line 32 for mailer 16 if desired. Payments for returned BRM madevia the credit line 32 are billed to the mailer 16 by the accountsreceivable department 36 of BRM payment system 12, which then receivespayment from the mailer, typically from the mailer's bank account 38.Additionally, the interest bearing deposit account 30, non-interestbearing deposit account 40 and/or credit line 32 could be maintained bymailer 16 utilizing a dial-up system, such as, for example,Postage-by-Phone® 42 from Pitney Bowes. Thus, the present inventionprovides mailer 16 with multiple payment options for BRM including“Just-In-Time” payments, “Pay In Advance” payments, and/or “Pay InArrears” payments. The “Just-In-Time” payment option allows the mailer16 to pay the BRM payment system 12 at the completion of eachtransaction with the post office, i.e., when returned BRM is acceptedfor return to the mailer 16. The “Pay In Arrears” payment optionprovides the mailer 16 with a credit line 32 to pay for returned BRM.The “Pay In Advance” payment option may provide mailer 16 with intereston pre-paid BRM. All of the payment solutions of the present inventionallow the mailer 16 to view all of their account detail on-line via aremote computer coupled to a network, such as, for example, theInternet. Account details include, for example, historical paymentinformation by BRM permit number, initiate on-line payments, andinitiate and approve on-line authorizations.

Referring again to FIG. 2, in step 104 the mailer 16 transfersresponsibility for payment of returned BRM under its BRM permit, issuedby the post office 14, to BRM payment system 12. Thus, BRM paymentsystem 12 will be authorized to pay the post office 14 for returned BRMunder the permit number assigned to mailer 16 utilizing the accountestablished by BRM payment system 12 in step 100. As noted above, BRMpayment system 12 provides mailer 16 with additional payment options andways to better utilize their funds, while also decreasing the amount ofrecord keeping, processing and costs for the post office 14 as will befurther described below.

In step 106, the BRM payment system 12 establishes a customer accountnumber for mailer 16. This may be established by combining the BRMpermit number for mailer 16 and the zip code of the return address ofthe mailer 16. The zip code of the return address indicates the postoffice 14 where any return BRM will be delivered for acceptance andfinal return to the mailer 16. Since permit numbers will not repeat forthe same post office 14, by combining the BRM permit imprint number andthe zip code of the post office 14 for mailer 16, an account number willbe generated that uniquely identifies mailer 16 and the correspondingBRM permit imprint number. Thus, even if mailer 16 has multiple BRMpermit imprint numbers or utilizes multiple return addresses, a uniqueaccount number will be generated for each BRM permit number. Of course,if mailer 16 has multiple BRM permit imprint numbers or utilizes morethan one return address, BRM payment system 12 could establish a singlemaster account for mailer 16 which maps to each of the accounts for theindividual BRM permit imprint numbers. The account number for mailer 16is utilized to track postage payments for returned BRM as describedbelow.

Referring now to FIGS. 3A and 3B, there is illustrated in flow diagramform the processing performed for payment of BRM according to thepresent invention. Suppose, for example, mailer 16 decides to send amailing that includes BRM for return to the mailer 16. In step 120, themailer 16 authorizes the BRM payment system 10 to make payments forpostage for the returned BRM. This authorization can be made directly bythe mailer 16 or an authorized agent of the mailer 16. Suchauthorization could be provided, for example, by telephone, via a webpage operated by BRM payment system 12 and accessed by mailer 16,facsimile, e-mail, etc. With respect to authorization by telephone, itshould be noted that mailer 16 could provide authorization utilizing avoice recognition unit (VRU). Regardless of the means for providing theauthorization, the authorization includes information related to theBRM. For example, the information could be provided by the mailer 16completing a statement of business reply mail form. Such informationcould include, for example, the permit imprint number for the BRM, thezip code number associated with the permit number, i.e., the zip code ofthe addressee to which th BRM will be returned, the return address thatshould appear on every piece of BRM (including the permit holder'sname), a maximum number of pieces expected under the currentauthorization (which when exceeded causes the current authorization toautomatically expire), a maximum postage amount under the currentauthorization (which when exceed causes the current authorization toautomatically expire), a daily limit amount for the number of pieces orpostage amount, threshold amounts for either the total number of piecesreceived or total amount of postage paid upon which the mailer will benotified, and a fixed date upon which the current authorization shouldautomatically expire. Optionally, if no expiration date is provided, theBRM payment system could automatically set a fixed expiration period,such as, for example, six months or one year.

In step 122, the information related to the BRM is processed by BRMpayment system 12. According to one embodiment of the invention,processing includes the generation of a Payment Authorization Number(PAN) by a payment authorization system 20 (FIG. 1). The PAN is linkedto the information related to the BRM and provided to the mailer 16. ThePAN can be used by the mailer 16 to maintain account records withrespect to one or more BRM mailings currently in process. Optionally,the PAN could also be provided to the post office 14 at which the returnBRM will be processed for use as described below. Alternatively, a PANneed not be generated, and instead processing the information related tothe BRM can include storing the information in such a way that it can beeasily retrieved based on information related to the BRM. Theinformation could be stored, for example, in a database (not shown)accessible by the BRM payment system 12. Retrieval could be performed,for example, by searching the database based on one or more of thepermit imprint number, permit holder's name, and zip code associatedwith the permit number.

In step 124, the returned BRM is received by the post office 14 forprocessing and eventual return to the mailer 16. In step 126, thereturned BRM is processed by the post office 14. Such processing couldeither be performed manually, such as, for example, by a postal clerk,or automatically utilizing processor based equipment equipped withscanners, such as, for example, sortation equipment, facers, and thelike. Such processing includes, for example, calculating the amount ofpostage due based on the number of pieces of BRM being processed.Typically, the processing includes the completion of USPS Form 3582-CPostage Due Invoice, which details the number of pieces and calculatedpostage due. This can either be completed manually by a postal clerk orautomatically by a processor based system. The post office 14 thencommunicates with the BRM payment system 12, and provides the amount ofpostage due to confirm payment for the BRM. If a PAN was issued andprovided to the post office 14, the PAN can be matched to the mailer 16,for example, utilizing the permit number and mailers name, and the PANprovided to the BRM payment system 12 for verification. If no PAN wasissued or the PAN was not provided to the post office 14, then the postoffice 14 can communicate with the BRM payment system 12 to determineif, based on the permit number and permit holders name, i.e., the mailer16, or permit holder's zip code, payment for the BRM will be made by theBRM payment system 12. Such communication can be performed, for example,via telephone or a network, such as, for example, the Internet.

In either case, the BRM payment system 12 will preferably againdetermine that sufficient funds are available within the account orcredit limit of mailer 16 to pay for the postage due for the returnedBRM. If sufficient funds are available, BRM payment system 12 can thenverify that the PAN (if provided by the post office 14) is active, andprovide the post office 14 with the information related to the BRM thatis linked to the PAN, or if no PAN is provided, linked to the permitnumber and permit holder's name. Such information could include, forexample, the permit imprint number for the BRM, the zip code numberassociated with the permit number, i.e., the zip code of the addresseeto which the BRM will be returned, the return address that should appearon every piece of BRM (including the permit holder's name), a maximumnumber of pieces expected under the current authorization (which whenexceeded causes the current authorization to automatically expire), amaximum postage amount under the current authorization (which whenexceed causes the current authorization to automatically expire), adaily limit amount for the number of pieces or postage amount, and afixed date upon which the current authorization will automaticallyexpire. If sufficient funds are not available, the BRM payment system 12can instruct the post office 14 to reject the returned BRM.

In step 128, if the post office 14 has not been instructed by the BRMpayment system 12 to reject all of the returned BRM, the returned BRM iscompared to the information provided by the BRM payment system in step126. In step 132 it is determined if the returned BRM meets each of thecriteria provided by the BRM payment system 12. If in step 132 it isdetermined that the returned BRM does not meet each of the criteriaprovided by the BRM payment system 12, or if the post office 14 wasinstructed by the BRM payment system 12 to reject the returned BRM, suchas, for example, in the case of insufficient funds, then in step 134 allor a portion of the returned BRM is rejected by the post office 14 andwill not be returned to the mailer 16. The post office 14 will providenotice of the rejection to the BRM payment system 12. Such notice couldinclude, for example, the number of pieces being rejected and thereason, along with other details from the USPS Form 3582-C. For example,if the daily limit amount for the number of pieces has been exceeded,the post office 14 can accept only the daily limit amount and reject theremainder. Such rejection could include either discarding the remainderof the BRM, or holding that portion of the BRM until the next day forreprocessing. Similarly, if the daily limit for the amount of postagehas been exceeded, the post office can accept only a portion of thereturned BRM that meets the postage amount limit, and reject theremainder. Such rejection could include either discarding the remainderof the BRM, or holding that portion of the BRM until the next day forreprocessing. If the maximum piece number or postage amount has beenexceeded, then any remainder BRM will preferably be discarded.

If any or all of the returned BRM is rejected in step 134, because ofinstructions from the BRM payment system 12 or it does not meet one ormore of the criteria as provided by the BRM payment system 12, thenpreferably in step 136 the mailer 16 is notified of the rejection by theBRM payment system 12. Such notification can be performed, for example,by an automated telephone system, facsimile, e-mail, etc. Preferably,the notification includes details of the rejected BRM, including thenumber of pieces being rejected and the reason, as well as any otherinformation from the USPS Form 3582-C. Additionally, the BRM paymentsystem 12 will also preferably provide the mailer 16 with additionalinformation related to the authorization, such as, for example,threshold limits set by the mailer 16, expiration date, etc., such thatthe mailer 16 can determine if renewal of the authorization is desired,such as, for example, to reset threshold limits or the expiration date.For example, the mailer 16 may desire to reset the daily limit amountsor the expiration date.

If in step 132 it is determined that the returned BRM meets the criteriaas provided by the BRM payment system 12, then in step 138 the returnedBRM is accepted by the post office 14 and the post office 14 providesnotice of the acceptance to the BRM payment system 12. Such notificationpreferably includes the actual piece count and the actual cost of thereturned BRM, along with other details from the USPS Form 3582-C.

In step 140 the BRM payment system 12 provides notification to themailer 16 of the accepted BRM by the post office 14, and can provide theactual piece count, actual cost, and other information collected by BRMpayment system 12 as provided by the post office 14. Such notificationcould be done, for example, by an automated telephone system, facsimile,e-mail, etc. Additionally, the BRM payment system 12 will alsopreferably provide the mailer 16 with additional information related tothe authorization, such as, for example, threshold limits set by themailer 16, expiration date, etc., such that the mailer 16 can determineif renewal of the authorization is desired. For example, the mailer 16may desire to reset the daily limit amounts or the expiration date. Inaddition, in step 140 the BRM payment system 12 performs accountingprocedures to update the information associated with the BRM to includethe BRM just accepted by the post office 14. For example, the BRMpayment system 12 can update the total number of pieces returned and thetotal amount of postage paid to include the just returned BRM.

In step 142, the BRM payment system 12 prepares for payment of thereturned BRM from the account for mailer 16. It is important to note,however, that at the time the mailer 16 provided authorization for theBRM (step 120 of FIG. 3A), it was not necessary to move money from themailer's account with the BRM payment system 12. Thus, the mailer 16 hasnot occurred any type of finance charges or fees if the payment is beingdone utilizing the credit line 32, nor has the mailer 16 lost anyinterest from money being removed from the interest bearing depositaccount 30. Preferably, it is not until after the notification ofacceptance by the post office 14 is received in step 138 that the fundsneed d to pay for the returned BRM are removed or charged against theaccount of mailer 16 in BRM payment system 12, as selected by the mailer16, and placed in the master account that BRM payment system 12 holdswith the post office 14.

Alternatively, the master account that BRM payment system 12 holds withthe post office 14 could always maintain a minimum balance based onstatistical normal daily transactional costs. This system, however, isnot as efficient as transferring the funds into the master account justbefore payment is to occur, as any potential interest may be lost on thefunds that remain idle in the master account.

In step 144, the post office 14 settles with the BRM payment system 12,such as, for example, by executing an ACH debit against the masteraccount that the BRM payment system 12 maintains with the post office 14for the BRM of the mailer 16. Typically, this is performed at the end ofeach day or on the next business day after acceptance of the BRM, andcan aggregate all of the payments due for all BRM accepted by the postoffice 14 for all mailers that have accounts with the BRM payment system12. Accordingly, the funds removed or charged against the account ofmailer 16 in BRM payment system 12 in step 142 will be available in themaster account that BRM payment system 12 maintains with the post office14. Alternatively, the BRM payment system 12 may provide funds to thepost office 14 by way of a wire funds transfer or by way of an ACHcredit transaction which would move funds from BRM payment system's bankaccount 34 to the bank account of post office 14.

In step 146, the post office 14 can optionally provide notification,typically via a web site accessible by BRM payment system 12, ofconfirmation of the above transaction, i.e., that return BRM was paidfor utilizing the master account of BRM payment system 12. Theconfirmation may include additional information such as, for example,the acceptance site, the permit number, the cost of the return BRM andthe actual number of pieces. This information can be utilized by BRMpayment system 12 to track postage payments against the record of allauthorizations for payment for BRM that were made by mailer 16 forauditing purposes.

In step 148, the BRM payment system 12 can, if necessary, settle withthe mailer 16. Such settlement can include, for example, providing aninvoice for the postage due, or a statement of charges made against theaccount of the mailer 16. The particular type of settlement depends uponthe type of account the mailer 16 has with the BRM payment system 12.For example, the BRM payment system 12 could invoice the mailer for allreturned BRM accepted within a given time period, such as, for exampleone or two weeks. If the mailer 16 has funds on account with the BRMpayment system 12, the BRM payment system 12 could deduct the funds fromthe mailer's account on a predetermined regular basis, such as, forexample, daily, weekly, etc. Alternatively, the funds could be deductedas soon as each transaction is completed. The present invention providesmailers with multiple payment options for business reply mail including“Just-In-Time” payments, “Pay In Advance” payments, and/or “Pay InArrears” payments. The “Just-In-Time” payment option allows the mailer16 to pay the BRM payment system 12 when the returned BRM is accepted bythe post office 14. The “Pay In Arrears” payment option provides themailer 16 with a credit line to pay for BRM. The “Pay In Advance”payment option may provide mailers with interest on pre-paid BRM.

In accordance with another embodiment of the present invention, BRMpayment system 12 does not need any type of PAN system 20 or keep anyrecords of BRM authorized by the mailer 16. In this embodiment, themailer 16 need not provide any type of advance authorization to pay forthe BRM. When BRM is accepted by the post office 14 under a permitimprint for which BRM payment system 12 has payment responsibility, themaster account held by BRM payment system 12 will be charged for theBRM, regardless of the cost. The BRM payment system 12 will then billthe costs for the return BRM back to the mailer 16. This embodiment,however, is less secure as BRM payment system 12 will be liable forpayment for any return BRM, as long as the permit number and zip code ofthe addressee are correct.

Thus, the BRM payment system 12 of the present invention providesmailers of all sizes with several payment options to securely pay forbusiness reply mail, reduces the amount of record keeping for bothmailers and the postal authority, provides mailers with additionalresources to manage their funds more effectively, and reduces USPSoperating costs, including, for example, check processing costs. Forexample, mailer 16 can utilize the CAPS system of the USPS withouthaving to individually meet the threshold criteria for CAPS.Additionally, according to the present invention, the mailer 16 can nowutilize either an interest bearing deposit account 30 or establish acredit line 32, neither of which the post office 14 currently provides.Furthermore, the system 12 according to the present invention willreduce the record keeping required by the post office 14, as nowmultiple mailers are aggregated under a single master account for BRMpayment system 12. Thus, BRM payment system 12 must perform the bulk ofthe record keeping, significantly reducing the workload on the postoffice 14. Along with this, since the number of mailers that will pay bycash or check for business reply mail will significantly decrease, sowill the time and expense incurred by the post office 14 for processingthose types of payments.

While preferred embodiments of the invention have been described andillustrated above, it should be understood that these are exemplary ofthe invention and are not to be considered as limiting. Additions,deletions, substitutions, and other modifications can be made withoutdeparting from the spirit or scope of the present invention.Accordingly, the invention is not to be considered as limited by theforegoing description.

1. A method for paying for business reply mail comprising: establishinga master payment account with a postal service, the master paymentaccount adapted to make payment for business reply mail under aplurality of different business reply mail permit numbers; receivingauthorization to pay for business reply mail associated with one of theplurality of business reply mail permit numbers, the authorizationincluding information related to the business reply mail; receiving acommunication from a post office to which the business reply mail isreturned for processing; providing the information related to thebusiness reply mail to the post office for comparison with the businessreply mail returned to the post office; and if all or a portion of thereturned business reply mail is accepted by the post office, providingpayment to the post office for the business reply mail accepted by thepost office from the master payment account.
 2. The method according toclaim 1, wherein each of the plurality of different business reply mailpermit numbers has at least one associated payment account, the methodfurther comprising: providing funds to pay for the accepted businessreply mail from a selected one of the at least one associated paymentaccount.
 3. The method according to claim 2, wherein providing theinformation related to the business reply mail to the post officefurther comprises: determining if sufficient funds are available in theat least one associated payment account to pay for the business replymail returned to the post office; if sufficient funds are available,providing the information related to the business reply mail to the postoffice; and if sufficient funds are not available, providinginstructions to the post office to reject at least a portion of thebusiness reply mail returned to the post office.
 4. The method accordingto claim 2, wherein the at least one associated payment account includesan interest bearing deposit account.
 5. The method according to claim 2,wherein the at least one associated payment account includes anon-interest bearing deposit account.
 6. The method according to claim2, wherein the at least one associated payment account includes a creditaccount.
 7. The method according to claim 1, wherein the master paymentaccount is a Centralized Account Processing System account.
 8. Themethod according to claim 1, wherein the information related to thebusiness reply mail includes at least one of a permit number for thebusiness reply mail, a zip code number associated with the permitnumber, a return address that should appear on every piece of businessreply mail, a maximum number of pieces expected, a maximum postageamount, a daily limit number of pieces, a daily limit postage amount,and a date upon which the authorization to pay will expire.
 9. Themethod according to claim 1, wherein receiving authorization to pay forbusiness reply mail further comprises: processing the informationrelated to the business reply mail.
 10. The method according to claim 9,wherein processing the information further comprises: generating apayment authorization number associated with the business reply mail,the payment authorization number being linked with the informationrelated to the business reply mail.
 11. The method according to claim10, wherein receiving a communication from a post office to which thebusiness reply mail is returned for processing further comprises:receiving the payment authorization number from the post office;determining if the payment authorization number is valid; and providingthe information related to the business reply mail that is linked to thepayment authorization number to the post office if the paymentauthorization number is valid.
 12. The method according to claim 1,further comprising: receiving notice from the post office of acceptanceor rejection of the business reply mail; and providing notification ofthe acceptance or rejection of the business reply mail to a third party.13. The method according to claim 12, wherein the notification ofacceptance or rejection includes an actual piece count of the acceptedbusiness reply mail and an actual cost for the accepted business replymail as determined by the post office.
 14. The method according to claim12, wherein the third party is a mailer that authorized payment for thebusiness reply mail.
 15. The method according to claim 1, furthercomprising: updating the information related to the business reply mailto include the business reply mail accepted by the post office.
 16. Amethod for payment for business reply mail comprising: aggregating aplurality of business reply mail permit accounts into a master account,each of the plurality of business reply mail permit accounts having atleast one associated payment account; receiving a notification ofacceptance of returned business reply mail from a mail carrier, thebusiness reply mail being accepted under one of the plurality ofbusiness reply mail permit accounts; providing payment for the returnedbusiness reply mail from the master account; and removing funds for thereturned business reply mail from a payment account associated with theone of the plurality of business reply mail permit accounts.
 17. Themethod according to claim 16, wherein the at least one associatedpayment account includes an interest bearing deposit account.
 18. Themethod according to claim 16, wherein the at least one associatedpayment account includes a non-interest bearing deposit account.
 19. Themethod according to claim 16, wherein the at least one associatedpayment account includes a credit account.
 20. The method according toclaim 16, wherein the master account is a Centralized Account ProcessingSystem account.
 21. A method for a postal service to receive payment forbusiness reply mail comprising: establishing a master account for abusiness reply mail payment system, the business reply mail paymentsystem having control of payment for a plurality of business reply mailpermit numbers; receiving business reply mail for return to a mailer ata postal facility under one of the plurality of business reply mailpermit numbers; and debiting the master account of the business replymail payment system for payment for the business reply mail received forreturn to the mailer.
 22. The method according to claim 21, furthercomprising: communicating with the business reply mail payment system toreceive information related to the business reply mail, the informationincluding criteria for the business reply mail; detrmining if thebusiness reply mail received for return to the mailer meets the criteriaincluded in the information related to the business reply mail receivedfrom the business reply mail payment system; and accepting the businessreply mail for return to the mailer if the business reply mail receivedfor return to the mailer meets the criteria included in the informationrelated to the business reply mail, wherein the master account of thebusiness reply mail payment system is debited only if the business replymail is accepted.
 23. The method according to claim 22, furthercomprising: rejecting at least a portion of the business reply mailreceived for return to the mailer if the business reply mail does notmeet the criteria included in the information related to the businessreply mail received from the business reply mail payment system.
 24. Themethod according to claim 22, wherein communicating with the businessreply mail payment system further comprises: providing a paymentauthorization number associated with the business reply mail to thebusiness reply mail payment system, and in response receiving theinformation related to the business reply mail.
 25. The method accordingto claim 22, wherein communicating with the business reply mail paymentsystem further comprises: providing at least one of a permit number,permit holder's name, and zip code number associated with the permitnumber to the business reply mail payment system, and in responsereceiving the information related to the business reply mail.
 26. Themethod according to claim 22, wherein the criteria for the businessreply mail includes at least one of a permit number for the businessreply mail, a zip code number associated with the permit number, areturn address that should appear on every piece of business reply mail,a maximum number of pieces expected, a maximum postage amount, a dailylimit number of pieces, a daily limit postage amount, and anauthorization expiration date.
 27. The method according to claim 22,further comprising: providing an actual piece count and an actual costof the business reply mail to the business reply mail payment system.28. The method according to claim 21, further comprising: providingconfirmation of debiting of the master account to the business replymail payment system.
 29. The method according to claim 21, wherein themaster account is a Centralized Account Processing System account.
 30. Amethod for a mailer to pay for business reply mail comprising:establishing a mailer account with a business reply mail payment systemfor payment of business reply mail, the business reply mail paymentsystem maintaining a master account with a mail carrier for payment ofbusiness reply mail; and transferring control of payment for businessreply mail returned under a business reply mail permit number issued tothe mailer to the business reply mail payment system; wherein paymentfor business reply mail returned under a business reply mail permitnumber issued to the mailer is made from the master account of thebusiness reply mail payment system and funds for the business reply mailare not debited from the mailer account until after a notification ofacceptance of the returned business reply mail is received from the mailcarrier.
 31. The method according to claim 30, further comprising:providing criteria for acceptance of the business reply mail to thebusiness reply mail payment system and authorizing the business replymail payment system to pay for returned business reply mail that meetsthe criteria, wherein payment made from the master account of thebusiness reply mail payment system only for returned business reply mailthat meets the criteria.
 32. The method according to claim 31, whereinthe criteria for the business reply mail includes at least one of apermit number for the business reply mail, a zip code number associatedwith the permit number, a return address that should appear on everypiece of business reply mail, a maximum number of pieces expected, amaximum postage amount, a daily limit number of pieces, a daily limitpostage amount, and an authorization expiration date.
 33. The methodaccording to claim 31, wherein after providing criteria for acceptanceof the business reply mail, the method further comprises: receiving apayment authorization number generated by the business reply mailpayment system, the payment authorization number being linked to thecriteria for the business reply mail.
 34. The method according to claim30, wherein establishing a mailer account further comprises:establishing an interest bearing deposit account with the business replymail payment system.
 35. The method according to claim 30, whereinestablishing a mailer account further comprises: establishing anon-interest bearing deposit account with the business reply mailpayment system.
 36. The method according to claim 30, whereinestablishing a mailer account further comprises: establishing a creditaccount with the business reply mail payment system.
 37. A system forpayment of business reply mail comprising: a business reply mail paymentsystem having a plurality of business reply mail permit accounts for aplurality of mailers, each of the plurality of business reply mailpermit accounts being associated with a respective business reply mailpermit number, each of the business reply mail permit accounts having atleast one associated payment account; and a master account maintained bythe business reply mail payment system, the master account being used topay a postal service for business reply mail accepted under eachrespective business reply mail permit number for the plurality ofmailers, wherein payment for business reply mail accepted under arespective business reply mail permit number issued to a mailer is madefrom the master account of the business reply mail payment system andfunds for the business reply mail accepted are not provided from thepayment account for the mailer until after a notification of acceptanceof the business reply mail is received from the postal service.
 38. Thesystem according to claim 37, wherein the at least one associatedpayment account includes an interest bearing deposit account.
 39. Thesystem according to claim 37, wherein the at least one associatedpayment account includes a non-interest bearing deposit account.
 40. Thesystem according to claim 37, wherein the at least one associatedpayment account includes a credit account.
 41. The system according toclaim 37, wherein the master account is a Centralized Account ProcessingSystem account.
 42. The system according to claim 37, wherein thebusiness reply mail payment system further comprises: a paymentauthorization number system to generate a payment authorization number,the payment authorization number being linked to criteria for acceptanceof the business reply mail.
 43. The system according to claim 42,wherein the criteria for acceptance of the business reply mail includesat least one of a permit number for the business reply mail, a zip codenumber associated with the permit number, a return address that shouldappear on every piece of business reply mail, a maximum number of piecesexpected, a maximum postage amount, a daily limit number of pieces, adaily limit postage amount, and a date upon which the authorization topay will expire.
 44. The system according to claim 43, wherein thepostal service communicates with the business reply mail payment systemand provides the payment authorization number to the business reply mailpayment system, and in response to receiving the payment authorizationnumber the business reply mail payment system provides the informationrelated to the business reply mail to the postal service.
 45. The systemaccording to claim 37, wherein the business reply mail payment systemstores criteria for acceptance of returned business reply mail.
 46. Thesystem according to claim 45, wherein the criteria for acceptance ofreturned business reply mail includes at least one of a permit numberfor the business reply mail, a zip code number associated with thepermit number, a return address that should appear on every piece ofbusiness reply mail, a maximum number of pieces expected, a maximumpostage amount, a daily limit number of pieces, a daily limit postageamount, and a date upon which the authorization to pay will expire. 47.The system according to claim 45, wherein the postal service, afterreceiving business reply mail for return to the mailer, communicateswith the business reply mail payment system and provides at least thebusiness reply mail permit number of the received business reply mail tothe business reply mail payment system, and in response to receiving atleast the business rely mail permit number the business reply mailpayment system provides the criteria for acceptance of the businessreply mail to the postal service.
 48. The system according to claim 37,wherein the business reply mail payment system provides notification tothe mailer of acceptance of the business reply mail for return to themailer.